Of the two main sources of the country's hard currency, migrant workers' remittances constitute the second largest after commodity export earnings. But since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Bangladesh's main destination of migrant workers, the Middle Eastern nations, was never under greater threat than now with the devastating war between Iran and Israel plus the USA raging through the Middle-Eastern countries since the end of last month. It is not only the flow of money that the migrant workers send home, which amounted to US$32.8 billion last year (2025), is in jeopardy, the personal safety of the workers, let alone the jobs, is now in real danger due to the war. For instance, Saudi Arabia, which hosts from 3.0 million to 3.5 million Bangladeshi workers sending around US$5.0 billion home annually, is under attack. So, is the UAE, which is the second largest destination of Bangladeshi workers, is being severely impacted by the war. The conditions of other migrant labour destinations including Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman are no better.
Against this backdrop, the newly elected government of Bangladesh will face yet another major challenge of ensuring security of the workers employed in those countries. Since most of the Bangladeshi workers in those countries are engaged in low-skilled jobs in the informal sectors, they are in the worst kind of predicament with their jobs as well as personal safety. Reports coming in this connection are concerning. So far, according to this paper, the war reportedly claimed the lives of at least four Bangladeshi migrant workers. In the circumstances, the government should be in close touch with developments through the respective embassies as well as the various international bodies concerned with migrant workers' welfare in those countries to identify the victims and extend necessary support to have their bodies returned home.
At the moment, it would be too early to assess the overall situation and take any firm decision in this connection. The lesson, if any, learnt from the current war in the Middle East is that Bangladesh can no longer depend on a single destination such as the oil-rich Middle East, for its remittance. Neither should it count on the earnings of the unskilled and low-skilled workers employed abroad. In times of emergency caused either by diseases, natural disasters or wars, it is low or unskilled workers who are the first casualties, as it happened with the start of the present war, as reported in last Monday's issue of this paper in the case of some Bangladeshi workers. For their Egyptian employer left Saudi Arabia, their host country, leaving them high and dry. But they would not be in such predicament had they been employed with projects of the Saudi government or of any corporate private company of repute. But in that case, they would require adequate educational background as well as the necessary skills for their jobs. By an estimate, of all the Bangladeshi migrant workers employed overseas, 70 to 74 per cent are semi-skilled or low-skilled ones.
So, it is time the incumbent BNP government vigorously looked for alternative job markets for Bangladeshi migrant workers as well as adopted a clear-cut strategy about developing manpower and its export abroad as a viable source of foreign currency. In fact, what is going on at present in the name of employment of migrant workers abroad is not sustainable.
